Something is happening to the Everfree. And it's not good.
The Everfree was always relatively dangerous. But now, something is stirring.. The beasts within it have become even more agitated than usual. Something is coming, and it's dangerous. Contains relatively violent deaths, smarter animals and biased pones.
Twas a peaceful day. Pegasi were fluttering about in a cloud-free sky, birds were chirping. It was just a regular day in Ponyville. A regular, peaceful, monster-free day. That is, until a roar echoed from the Everfree, followed by three high-pitched screams.
All in all, a regular day.
Everfree Forest
“Ah told ya’ll that it was ah bad idea!”
“Pretty sure you were the one who went and poked it with a stick, Applebloom!”
“Who cares about that Scoots, if we don’t keep running we are going to get eaten!”
The three fillies were being chased by a manticore that was roused from its sleep. It was angry, it was hungry, and it was running after a couple of snacks. It was gaining terrain, and started to snap its jaws in an attempt to catch one of them. Luckily for the girls, they were reaching the edge of the forest, and they knew the manticore wouldn’t dare to chase them into town. Pushing themselves harder, they dashed out of the forest with a speed that would make Rainbow Dash proud. The fillies reached Sweet Apple Acres, believing themselves to be safe. Turning around made them realize that they were wrong.
The manticore was staring them down, almost like it was weighting the risk of, then suddenly deployed its wings and used them to launch itself at them, jaws wide open and claws held in front of it.
“ANYPONY, PLEASE SAVE US!!”
Their screams echoed through the orchard as they huddled together and closed their eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Which never came, instead a loud ‘CRACK!’ resonated throughout the field, followed by a roar.
The fillies opened their eyes to find a livid Applejack and a seriously pissed Rainbow Dash looking at an injured manticore.
“GET AWAY FROM MAH SISTER YOU MONSTER!!”
“NO ONE HURTS THESE FILLIES ON MY WATCH! I’LL KICK YOUR FLANK IN TEN SECONDS FLAT!!”
The manticore looked at the angry mares, then looked back to the fillies. It let out a low growl, trying to weight out the pros and cons of trying to gobble the smaller ones up.
It started to slowly back away, but it’s eyes were fixed on the mares. Rainbow Dash was having none of it, and flew at it hooves extended, trying to smash it’s face in. Unluckily for her, the manticore made use of its wings and leapt out of the way, before flapping them a couple times to launch itself in the air. It made a mad dash for the forest, flying as fast as it could, dodging a certain rainbow blur trying to destroy it.
30 feet.
‘Dodge’.
20 feet.
‘Duck’.
10 feet.
‘Avoid’.
5 feet.
*CRACK!*
The rainbow of pain hit its mark, sending the lion-like beast straight to the ground, with a broken wing. Trees bent and broke when it slammed into them at high speed. It let out a roar when a branch impaled his already shattered wing. It whimpered in pain when it hit a large tree, and made no noise when said tree fell on top of it.
“Serves you right you freak. No one messes with Scootaloo and her friends.” Rainbow left the tree and manticore to its fate. It couldn’t survive long anyways, not with a broken wing. That is, if it even got out from under that tree. Applejack questioned what happened to the manticore after Dash hit it. Dash filled her in, they shared a chuckle, and took the fillies home. “Stupid monster tryin’ tah mess with mah sis.”
A dark figure stood there, watching the entire scene. It was disgusted by how the ponies treated an animal who was just trying to survive, and would have probably never bothered them if it wasn’t for those fillies. It walked over to the tree, and with a grunt, lifted it off the manticore. The sight of it was not pretty. It had splinters all over, the left wing was broken, teeth were missing, an eye was bleeding, half of the mane was missing, several bruises were on its body, the tail was completely crushed with the poison leaking out, and the saddest thing was its midsection, crushed flat, guts spilling out. The manticore looked up, but made no sound.
It looked over itself, and noticed that it was bandaged and patched up. Trying to get up,its front paws were working, but everything after the shoulders wasn’t.
“Don’t get up, I’m not finished yet.”
The head whirled around, trying to find the source of the voice, but the neck was still hurt, so the pain made it collapse back on the ground.
The owner of said voice walked up in front of it and crouched down so it could face him eye to eye.
“I was able to bandage your front paws and gather your organs back into your body, but there is still lots to be done. Please, stay calm.”
The lion-like beast seemed to understand him, as it nodded its head as gently as it could. It got a pretty nice view of its savior too. He was a biped ape-like creature, wearing cloth and having no fur except on the top of his head. It was curly and expanded in almost all directions. It had something over its eyes, sticks with petrified sand in them. It has seen said petrified sand when lightning struck the beach. It was carrying cloth that it probably tore from what it was wearing in one hand, and had some kind of mud on it. In its other hand was a splinter and some string.
“I’m going to place your organs back where they should be and sew them back in place, then close your stomach wound. It might hurt a bit, but it’s for your own good.”
The manticore closed its one eye. And started to feel the appendages of the being inside of it. It felt a sharp poke, then another, and another. It resisted the urge to lash out at its savior. The poking eventually stopped from the inside, and now was on its midsection. A couple minutes later it stopped all together, and the ape creature applied some of the mud on it, then wrapped it all tightly with cloth.
“There, it should hold for a couple of days.”
It growled in thanks, and the being responded by petting the top of its head.
“It’s no problem, I couldn’t let you die after seeing what injustice happened to you. What is your name?”
‘Growls’
“Oh right. Can’t understand you. I’ll call you Mann for now.”
Mann was a good name, it made him happy.
“I’m Ali. You should get some rest, let your wounds heal. I’ll go get you some food.”
And with that, Ali left the area.
“Well, that went well.”
Ali got out of the cave he was in, leaving Mann to rest. He knew the area relatively well, and knew that there was a family of rabbits somewhere close to here. He grabbed a sharp stick and a bola from near the cave entrance, and started to walk.
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the Everfree..
“I’m sorry Mr. Rabbit, I promise Harry won’t be so careless next time.”
A yellow pegasus was talking to a large rabbit, and he was clearly angry at something. Fluttershy was not having a good day. First, Angel rudely woke her up, and threw a fit when she gave him his daily salad. Then, Harry the bear tried to eat a family of bunnies. And now, said family was chewing her out about how they almost lost their 4th litter.
‘They are getting a lot more irritable recently. I hope it’s nothing bad.’
Suddenly, something zipped past her and ensnared the rabbit in front of her. She gasped, and tried to free it from the bola.
“HEY! LEAVE MY PREY ALONE!”
“EEP!”
Something screamed at her, then it came out of the bush. It was a tall biped, covered in cloth, with a spear in one hand, and a couple dead rabbits around his waist.
“You.. YOU MONSTER! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU KILL THOSE POOR INNOCENT RABBITS! WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU? WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO THEM? WHY ARE YOU DOIN-mphmmmphmm”
The being grabbed her muzzle, making her go silent. It thrusted its spear, impaling the rabbit through its heart, killing in instantly. Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry, but the ape creature did not care. It let her go and went to remove the rabbit from its spear.
“Circle of life, pony. Might want to learn that.”
And with that, it left, leaving Fluttershy gazing at the spot where the rabbit was. That spot was covered in blood. She gathered up her wits and flew back to Ponyville, determined to tell her friends about what happened and hoping that the beast will answer for its crimes.
“I’m back Mann!”
Mann looked behind him to see his savior walking in with a nice amount of rabbits tied to him. He smiled, but cringed when his jaw started to ache. He watched as Ali went to a fire, impaled 3 rabbits on a stick, and placed that stick over the fire. Then, with 5 rabbits left, he gutted them, placed their organs in a pot, skinned them, and hung their hides on a rack. Ali walked back to Mann, and placed the muscles and bones of the rabbits in front of the manticore. He took out a sharp rock and started to separate bone from flesh, throwing a piece of meat towards Mann, who happily caught and swallowed the pieces.
“Don’t worry Mann, I’ll take care of you until you are all healed up.”
‘Thanks.’
“No problem buddy, I’m happy to see you ali- I can understand you?”
‘It seems so.’
“Huh. I guess it’s because we formed a bond. Glad to be able to finally talk to someone.”
‘It’s good that you can finally understand me, for I have many questions. What are you and why did you save me?’
“Well, I am a human, and I’m guessing I’m the only one here.”
‘Oh. I’m sorry.’
“No need. It seems I have been ripped from my own world. Not that there was much there. As for your second question.. I felt bad for you. You were being abused by the ponies just because you were awakened by their young ones. They don’t care about killing you even if you did nothing wrong. It’s unjust, and I plan to fix that. That and you look cool, and you’d seemed like a nice friend to have.”
‘I owe you my life Ali. Thanks you for everything you’ve done and is doing. I don’t know what I would have done without you.’
“You’d probably be dead under that tree, but don’t worry. I would have done something anyways.”
‘What now?’
“Now?”
Ali stood up, collected the bones of dead rabbits, and went to sit next to a table. He placed the bones in a certain pattern, and started to sing.
“I have done nothing but killin’, so I’ll need you to fill me in.
Tell me every little secret, and maybe I’ll let you go back to rest,
Because, after all that you’ll do for me, resting will be as easy as counting to three.
Now, rise and shine, little one, for there is much to be done.”
The bones, much to the manticore’s shock, started to move around before forming 5 little rabbit skeletons. They hopped around on the table, then jumped onto Ali’s shoulders. He walked to the rack where their hides were, and the hides detached themselves and wrapped around the rabbits, making them look alive. They proceeded to hop onto the cave floor and got out it, spreading into different directions into the Everfree. Ali looked at them leaving with a smile on his face, before turning back to the manticore.
“Now the fun begins.”
‘Your food is on fire.’
“What?”
The rabbits that were roasting indeed caught on fire, and were currently turning black.
After saving his dinner from combustion, Ali went to take a stroll, leaving Mann to rest alone. He was thinking about everything from when he was roused from his sleep by three annoying fillies to the present. He was relatively happy with his predicament. Sure, he had a non-functional tail, a broken wing, missing teeth, and up until a few hours ago has his insides outside, but Ali saved him from death. He not only did that, but he healed him, fed him and even gave him a name. He could have left him, or even eaten him, yet he spent time healing what appeared to be a fearsome predator.
Why would he do that? He did say that what happened was unjust. Maybe he has some problems with ponies too.. I should ask him when he gets back. He also possess some strange magic.. He reanimated rabbit skeletons with nothing more than some rhymes. I may not know much about magic, but I’m pretty sure it should take more than a bit of sing-song to bring the dead back to life. Oh I have so many questions.. They’ll have to wait however, for I need to rest if I am to regain my strength.
And with that train of thought stopped, he placed his head on his paws and dozed off quickly.
SugarCube Corner, Ponyville
“I’m telling you, it was terrible! It killed Mr. Rabbit without any remorse. It had plenty already for something its size, but it killed even more.. I can’t believe I didn’t do anything to stop it.. It was so scary though...”
“It’s okay Fluttershy, if it comes around here again I’ll kick its flank in 10 seconds flat.”
“Y’all should have seen Dash beating up that manticore. Ah hope it’s dead. Don’t want it tryin’ tah eat anypony again.”
Fluttershy was sitting with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, telling them what happened in the forest and listening to their fight against the manticore.
“How could you say that Applejack?!? I’m sure it was roused from its sleep and didn’t know any better..”
“Flutters, it was chasing Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo and would have eaten them if we weren’t there. It’s a pony-eating monster.”
“Oh... Well, at least it can’t harm anypony anymore. I hope it didn’t suffer..”
It was at this moment that a sickly looking rabbit decided to hop out of the forest, into the town and towards Sugar Cube Corner. Both of its ears were dragging on the side of it’s head. If one looked closely, they would see that it had two black gems for eyes and its had no tail, but no one seemed to pay too much attention. It continued to hop about until it neared the door. Despite the fake rabbit’s size, it was stronger than it appeared, and was able to open the door without any problems.
Taking a leap nothing its size would have been able to do, magically assisted or not, it landed square onto the cupcake Applejack was about to eat, completely destroying it and startling the three mares.
“MAH CUPCAKE!”
“DEAR CELESTIA!”
“EEEP!”
The rabbit didn’t seem to realize it’s actions, but soon found itself under the sternest gaze on the planet. Fluttershy was using ‘The Stare’.
“YOU! HOW COULD YOU! YOU ARE GOING TO APOLOGIZE TO APPLEJACK FOR RUINING HER CUPCAKE, AND THEN AGAIN TO US FOR NEARLY GIVING US A HEART ATTACK!”
The rotting rodent “looked” at her, black soulless gems staring into Fluttershy’s wide angry eyes. They stared at each other for a bit, then Fluttershy’s glare started to lessen, while the rabbit’s gaze remained fixed onto her. She started to get uncomfortable, as the rabbit didn’t even blink, lacking muscles to do so. As she lost herself in the abyss that was the undead bunny’s eyes, Applejack called out to her.
“What’s wrong Flutters? This tiny rabbit givin’ ya trouble?”
Fluttershy snapped back into reality, and looked at Applejack with a worried look.
“That rabbit.. It wasn’t affected.. It didn’t even blink. It’s not talking either.. B-B-But the most eerie thing about him are his eyes..”
As if orchestrated, the rabbit turned around to look at Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They both fell into the same trance, the the dead rodent’s “eyes” seemingly absorbing their attention. Fluttershy was seriously scared by now. She was alone with a rabbit that looked sickly pale, and its gaze could be absorbing her friends’ souls, or worse! She had to do something, but she didn’t know what.
She started to nudge the rabbit off the table, until it fell. A *Thump* was heard, and the prismatic-maned pegasus and orange-furred both regained their senses. They were promptly hugged by a crying Fluttershy, who was blubbering something about never seeing them again.
In all that commotion, no one saw the rabbit leave the shop and reenter the forest.
Deep within the Everfree, a cupcake-covered rabbit was making its way towards a cave. Right before entering, it was grabbed by its ears and brought to a table. The two black gems that formed the rabbit’s eyes fell out of their sockets, and were picked up by a gloved hand. The owner of said appendage dropped them in a pouch with 4 other pairs of gems of different colors, and proceeded to grind the pouch and it’s contents using a mortar and pestle. He then emptied the pouch’s contents into a jar labeled “Emotional Gem Powder”.
The rabbit meanwhile jumped into a bowl of water nearby to clean itself from the pink icing that covered its fur, and after a couple of minutes hopped out to join the rest of its undead brethren. It looked slightly pink from the icing, and his creator bent down and picked him up, staring and looking at him intensely.
“Smells like pastries.. Looks like pastries... Tastes like pastries.. Maybe you’ve earned yourself a name, since you already look different from all your peers. MANN, NAME THAT PINK RABBIT!”
The pink rodent was flung across the room, and smacked into the wall above a large manticore. It opened an eye, took a look at the bunny detaching itself from the wall, and called out.
“PINKY!”
In Ponyville, a certain technicolor pony’s tail twitched.
“Alright. Pinky, get over here, I have a carrot for you!”
Pinky, leapt from the wall, and promptly smashed itself onto the floor. As it got back up, it tried and failed to leap to its owner, as the fall broke the creature’s rear legs. Mann, seeing this and taking pity on it, got up, snatched its ears and walked over to Ali. He placed it on a table, where the creature started to flail about. Not even bothering to glance at it, Ali threw a carrot and a couple more rabbit bones at it, then went further into the cave.
“What have you been working on? You come here at dawn, sleep until the afternoon, then repeat for a week. What are you doing?”
“Ahh.. Mann, Mann, Mann... I’m working on my next project of course. I found a large hole a couple miles away from the apple orchard, so I go there each night and get some corpses.”
“Wait.. There’s a graveyard in the ponies’ town?”
“Not really a graveyard, they just dug a hole in the ground and they throw all the dead in. I guess a spooky scary cemetery wouldn’t fit in with the ‘Harmony and Friendship’ crap that the ponies preach.. Anyways, I have couple dozen corpses by now, I’m going to try to get some proper minions, and work on some kind of home.”
“Out of corpses?”
“You’ll see..”
Ali ended that sentence with a smirk, and opened a door in the side of the cave Mann was sure didn’t exist a few seconds ago, and entered. A horrid, putrid smell started to leak out of that room, along with pus and blood. Mann gagged, stepped away and started to walk towards the entrance, trying to escape the horrors of that room. He glanced at Pinky, and saw it add more bones to his skeleton, replacing broken bones and reinforcing his overall structure.
’I have even more questions to ask him.. Are those undead sentient? Can they understand more than just basic orders? This one seems to understand that it was broken, and know how to fix itself.’ Mann witnessed Pinky putting his pink hide back on and picking two new gems for his eyes. ’It can think for itself, but to what extent? Another mystery..’ He took a glance to the room his friend entered. The door was closed now, but he could hear Ali chanting. ’He always seem to have a plan, no matter what happens.. Wonder what monstrosity will come out of that workshop of his..
Finishing his train of thought, he decided to go outside the cave to hunt some food, as his wounds were healing up nicely. An undead rabbit with emerald green eyes hopped onto his back as he was leaving, and started to tap on different sides of his head.
“What are you doing?”
The rabbit started to tap faster to the left.
“STOP THAT!”
His shout came out as a roar, which resonated throughout the forest, startling creatures. A cry came out of a bush to his left, which he started to approach. He didn’t make it far before a zebra came out of it, brandishing a staff in one of its hooves. The zebra appeared to be a she, and she was clearly scared of him, no matter how brave of a face she tried to put on.
“Stay back, foul beast, lest you find yourself deceased..”
Mann immediately crouched, right wing slightly extended and what is left of his tail raised. He did not want to deal with her at the moment, and it was clear she would fight as hard as she could to survive this encounter. If he wasn’t hurt so much, he would have easily killed this striped imitation of a pony, but with his injuries, he had to be careful. The tension could have been clawed into, and it was broken by the undead rodent jumping off Mann’s back and landing between him and the zebra.
“What is this? A rabbit most likely, yet my instincts tell me to tread carefully. I do not wish you harm little one, but from the monster behind you you must run.”
The rabbit responded by leaping up to her face and kicking her with its back legs, the force behind the undead’s attack strong enough to make the zebra stumble backwards. Mann took this as an opportunity to get rid of his opponent, and pounced on her. The zebra recovered just in time to see a maw half-filled with teeth aimed at her, and barely ducked, resulting in her Mohawk-like hair getting eaten. She reacted rather violently, and bucked the manticore in the face. Mann stumbled, dazed for a bit, but recovered rather quickly.
That’s nothing compared to that flying rainbow horse.
He countered by clawing at her backside, resulting in three deep cuts in her right back leg. The rabbit, not wanting to be forgotten, kicked her where she was cut, making her cry in pain, and fall to the ground. She looked up to see Mann grinning and the rodent staring her down.
“Is this how my life ends? Dying in the forest, away from my friends? I REFUSE TO DIE LIKE THIS! MY STRIPPED FLANK YOU CAN KISS!”
With that, she crushed a gem under her hoof, and a large cloud emerged from it. Mann was blinded, and while the rabbit was unaffected, it stayed to make sure Mann was alright. Mann heard hooves hitting the ground, and the noise started to get further away. When he finally regained his vision, he saw a blood trail leading towards the pony village.
Mann had left for a stroll, and the human that stayed in the cave was trying to think of a way to shape corpses together. While animating and giving life to corpses was no easy feat, a couple skeletal rabbits was relatively simple. Was one given the task of reanimating a pony-sized corpse, with flesh instead of just bones, it would take a lot of research and time to create a twitch in the dead. Our necromancer friend was sitting on a stool, looking at a pile of decomposing pony carcasses. He had a notebook with him, and said notebook was filled with drawings and doodles. He took a look at a page, then sighed, and proceeded to flip it over, looking at another picture. One caught his interest.
“Zombies.. Relatively simple, plain, not very dangerous to someone who can deal with basic threats. Any necromancer worth their salt can create a lot of them from corpses, and they are usually not very strong. However...”
As he was talking, he unconsciously stood up and started to assemble corpses in a pattern, muttering to himself all the while. He finished his ramblings, and noticed that he had created a structure out of the corpses. It had countless legs twisted into strong, sturdy limbs. Random organs and flesh seemed to be stuck inside a cage made of ribs, spines and hide. It had hands made of guts and tendons, with hooves sticking out where knuckles and nails should be. There were countless skulls adorning it, the most prominent one was probably its head. A large, deformed skull was resting atop the creature. It looked to be from a goat, as it had two horns curling back. The creature was deformed, but it was a creation Ali couldn’t have been prouder of. He knew what was left to do, and was excited to proceed. He grabbed a jar full of blood that was next to the stool, and started to draw various signs around and inside his monster. He finalized it by drawing a smiley face onto the goat skull, and, after rummaging through his pockets, took out five items. One was a black diamond, the other a while pearl, a rainbow-colored crystal was the third. Fourth was a chunk of wax and string, and the last was a matchbox.
He placed the pearl in the left eye, the diamond in the right, and placed three candles on each shoulder, five running down the back, one in front of each horn, and a final, tiny one inside the skull. He lit them up with a match, giving the creature a jack-o-lantern look with the lit candle inside his jaw. Placed one hand on the torso of his creation, and with the other started to channel the power inside the crystal.
‘This is more straining than I thought it would be... I hope it works..’
As Ali continued to drain the power from the crystal and transfer it to the mass of corpses, the crystal started to lose its glow, and cracks were appearing along its surface. The golem on the other hand, was starting to pulse, like a beating heart. The organs inside began to shift and move about, while the tendons, muscles and bones seemed to adapt to their unusual placement. The legs fused together, skin tightened and ribs covered the places where innards were leaking. The arms and hands clutched and unclutched several times, as the hooves started to form a protection of some sort. The candles adopted a more bloodied aspect, having flesh crawling up to the wick, and bones protruding out of some. Both diamond and pearl gained a glimmer to them, and the skull adapted to fit them and the body under it. Horns grew tiny spikes to seem more terrifying, and the smiley face looked life-like. Finally, the crystal lost its power, and crumbled into dust. Ali looked at the dust in his palm, smiled, then passed out.
Right before hitting the ground, a fleshy hand shot out and stopped him.
Twilight was walking in the streets of Ponyville, closely followed by Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
“I’m telling you Twilight, there is something in the Everfree! It knows how to use weapons, and it killed a bunch of bunnies!”
Sighing, Twilight replied for the fortieth time. “I understand Flutters, I’ll go check it out, subdue it, and write to the Princess about it.”
“Did we mention that massive manticore that almost killed the Cutie Mark Crusaders? Aren’t you going to do something about it?”
“RD’s right Twi. Ah can’t sleep at night knowin’ there’s a filly-eating monster out there. If it survived gettin’ hit by Rainbow and being crushed by a tree, ah don’t want it roamin’ ‘round mah farm.”
“I promise you girls, I will send a letter to Princess Celestia asking her to send a group of guard to hunt down the manticore. Which is why we are heading to Zecora right now, to warn her about the half-dead pony-eating manticore and try to convince her to move into Ponyville for the time being.”
As they came into view of the Everfree forest, they saw a sight that almost made them retch.
Zecora was lying on the ground, unconscious. She had three deep cuts on her back leg. Minor scratches over her body, a black eye, and was missing most of her mane. A blood trail was seen leading into the Everfree, but most importantly, there was a pack of timberwolves, right at the forest’s border, no doubt attracted by the scent of blood. Slowly, they came out of the brush, treading carefully as this was pony territory, and at any moment they could be outnumbered.
’There is the zebra!’
‘But there are four ponies with it. They must be reinforcements!’
‘Warn the rest of the group to spread out and cover escape routes, we need this kill for the rest of pack..’
All the ponies heard were growls, and five of the timberwolves started to advance towards them. Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Applejack jumped in front of Zecora, ready to protect their friend. Fluttershy on the other hand was trying to move the wounded zebra out of harm’s way.
A bolt of purple magic slammed into the first advancing timberwolf, causing it to collapse onto the ground, headless.
Shots were fired, and the assault began.
Two timberwolves leapt at the offender, trying to negate the unicorn’s long ranged attacks. Applejack however, was having none of it, so she smashed into one of them, knocking it into a pile of sticks. The orange earth pony’s move was not without risk, as she was quickly beset by more timberwolves, who kept scratching at her and waiting for a mistake to be made.
The prismatic-maned blue pegasus was not fairing well either. Right as the fight started, a bulky timberwolf jumped onto her backside, and while she knocked it off, it managed to sever a wing tendon, grounding the pegasus.
’Good job Log, one less advantage to deal with!’
Fluttershy, who managed to lift the zebra onto her back and was slowly making her way out of the fighting zone, was the only one timberwolves were leaving alone. Or so she thought. Three were stalking her behind bushes, blending in perfectly. They would wait for either more of their brothers and sisters to be done with the annoying ponies, or would attack when her friends wouldn’t be able to help her.
’Just a bit more,yellow one. It would be preferable for you to deliver our meal closer to us.’
‘We promise we won’t hurt you. Much.’
Twilight, while being the one with the most raw power, was tiring herself with how many shots it took to kill a timberwolf. One could not simply sever the head. The entire beast had to be incinerated thoroughly in order for it to stay down. This was because the heart of a timberwolf, called heartwood, was quite hard to hit, and as long as it would beat it would constantly regenerate the wolf’s body. So Twilight’s solution was not leaving a body to regenerate in the first place.
Setting up a barrier would be pointless, as the sheer amount of timberwolves would quickly wear it down. She had to think of something quick, or her friends would certainly die. Suddenly, she had the bright idea to reduce the amount of timberwolves drastically.
“EVERYPONY GET DOWN!”
Rainbow Dash and Applejack did as told, just in time too as a massive fire nova erupted from the purple unicorn’s horn, expanding rapidly in a circle, and igniting every timberwolf caught in it. It was not enough to kill them, but it was enough to make them flee to the nearest pond, with many dying on the way there due to their heartwood heating up and stopping to beat.
With that threat over for the time being, the three ponies went to help Fluttershy carry Zecora, and all of them rushed to the hospital.
Everfree Forest, Evening
’DAMN THOSE PONIES! TWO THIRDS OF THE PACK BURNT TO DEATH, AND THE LAST THIRD IS LEFT CRIPPLED FOR LIFE!’
‘I can’t believe it. One pony killed over 25 of our brothers and sisters in one go. I saw it, and still can’t believe it.’
‘We couldn’t even get that zebra.. The entire pack will die because of the last failed hunt.’
The three timberwolves unaffected by the fire spell were the ones stalking Fluttershy, and they were the ones grieving the loss of most of their able pack. They didn’t notice a figure sneaking up to them, and were certainly surprised when they heard it speak.
’I know of someone who could save your pack.’
The timberwolves leapt to their paws, looking for the owner of the voice.
’Save our pack? We’d do anything at this point. Name your price.’
‘The price I know not, but I have a feeling he’d help you for free after hearing your story, timberwolves.’
A large manticore appeared at that point. It had a two hoof marks on it’s muzzle, a cast on it’s wing, and bandages around it’s legs and torso. It’s mane was missing in points, it's tail was dragging behind it, and a green-eyed bunny was hopping next to it.
It was all that I felt. A huge throbbing pain in my entire body. What was the last thing I remember? Making a golem, then.. Nothing... Must have passed out. I need to open my eyes, to see where I am.
OH GOD THE LIGHT IT BURNS! Ok, maybe I should do this slowly.. Huh, everything looks normal. There’s a bunch of blood on the ground, but that’s because of the corpses. Now, where did I place that golem? I remember him to be pretty big, so--
At that point, something dripped onto my neck. I looked up, and saw a skull looking down at me. Blood-infused wax was dripping from it.
*Beat*
A shrill shriek manly shout resonated throughout the cavern.
Mann’s location
Meanwhile, our local manticore was leading the three timberwolves it found towards his savior’s hideout, when his ears picked up a scream coming from the cave. Not wasting any second in case Ali was in danger, he broke into a full sprint, startling the timberwolves, but they followed him nonetheless.
’This is bad. He might be in danger. Maybe ponies found him in a vulnerable state. Maybe his creation turned on him. I can’t let him die and not do anything about it! I have to be there!’
The thought of his friend dying made him gain even more speed, despite him already going as fast as he could. The timberwolves started to fall behind, even though they should be able to outrun Mann. The largest one, Tough Bark, jerked his head toward the rapidly disappearing manticore, and his cohorts nodded, increasing their pace.
’Hold up! Wait for us!’ The forest gave way to a cliff side, with a cave at it’s base. Gathering every ounce of strength in him, Mann leapt into it, claws ready to tear into whatever would dare to harm his savior.
He landed into the cave, wing flaring and teeth bared, and the first thing he noticed was Ali laying onto the floor, blood all over him. He turned to face his opponent, and was left speechless. His opponent was.. Something.
Metal bolts holding flesh together. A goat skull. So much blood and flesh. Dozens of ponies of various races must make that beast. Horns into claws. Hooves made knuckles. Ribs into shoulders. Skulls into joints. Innards mashed together to form legs, with hide to hold them in place. A chain hanging out from within its left arm. Mounds of wax on its head, shoulders, backside. Speaking of backside, it had spines jutting out of it. A white pearl was its left eye, the other eye being a black diamond. A partially ethereal tail made of veins and stitched up faces was behind him, ending in feathers. The thing turned its skull to face Mann. Then, with unnatural twisting and turning, it stood up.
The manticore realized one thing. The creature was massive. Its horns were scrapping the top of the cavern. A sixteen foot tall behemoth was now staring at him, unmoving. He picked up the unmistakable sound of claws scrapping on stone, and he remembered the timberwolves he was leading here.
They arrived panting, moved to speak to Mann, took a look at the monster occupying most of the cave, and started to whimper. All three but one.
The most experienced and only female of the three, Weeping Willow, moved to confront the golem. She looked straight into the diamond/pearl combo that was its eyes, and it stared back with a blank expression, or about as much expression as a skull could make.
It seemed like time stopped to a crawl, when suddenly, the golem reared it head back, as if inhaling air, and released the most deafening roar she ever heard right in her face. The force behind it shook Willow to her core, literally, as small pieces of wood and foliage were blown off of her. The golem then took a step forward while raising its arm, and brought it down with a speed that one would not expect for a being of that size.
Weeping Willow dodged the attack, and looked at where the fist hit. It was embedded into the ground, and cracks were spreading out from the point of impact. It turned its head to look at her, then bolted forwards head first, trying to smash the wolf in between itself and the wall. Willow’s only reaction was her “eyes” widening in terror.
’It’s too fast!’
*SMASH!*
As the dust settled, the two timberwolves snapped out of their stupor and rushed to the rescue of their pack-mate, only to find her in the arms of a cloaked biped. The golem pulled his head out of the wall, and twisted it to face the wolves. Right before it charged, a voice called out to him.
"Enough of this. I will not have you destroy my home. Next time, take the fight outside. Or make sure your opponent is actually a threat."
The beast relented, and let out a low moan, as if apologizing.
The cloaked figure placed Willow on the ground, then stood up, and starting walking towards the golem.
"I understand you are sorry, but please wait outside while I sort this out. Take the rabbits with you on your way out. I want to do a head count."
Heavy steps echoed throughout the cave as the behemoth walked out of the scene, groaning and moaning on occasion. Mann suddenly regained his voice, and scream-whispered.
"What is that thing?" He pointed to the lumbering behemoth with a wing, which was currently picking up the rabbits one by one, and placing them in his hand.
Ali shrugged. "Why, it's my creation! Isn't he adorable?"
"HE. Tried to kill the timberwolf."
"Speaking of timberwolves." Ali crouched a bit to get face to face with Mann. "Why did you bring three of them here? You better have a good reason. Did you bring them here for firewood? Or maybe for me to see what make them tick?" He said with a sadistic smile.
Mann facepalmed. "No. I thought you'd help them. Since you helped me after I almost died, you'll probably help them after you hear what happened to their pack."
"Their pack? You mean there was more than those three?"
"There was over a hundred." The smallest of the three called out. He was twice as small as an average timberwolf, but had a mean bite. He walked up to Ali, and sat on his haunches. "My name is Fight Shrub. The big lug over there is Tough Bark, and the lady you rescued is Weeping Willow." He pointed a paw to Bark and Willow, then to Mann. "Your manticore pal over here said you'd be able to help what's left of our pack."
"There's a story behind that, isn't there?" Shrub's ears flattened back against his skull, and he nodded.
"It's not a pretty one either. You might want to sit down."
After finding a nice undamaged spot in the cave, and getting some food, Weeping Willow initiated.
"Timberwolves didn't always live in the Everfree, you know.."
Chapter Seven: The Tale of Three Brothers.(Part One)
Timberwolves weren't always made of rotting wood. We once were made from healthy logs and branches, with moss and leaves growing from them. We were spread out across most of today's Equestria and some of the Frozen North. Akin to dragons, we would never stop growing in size, but at a slower pace, as an adult timberwolf would have been the size of Mann over there.
Mann took a glance at Shrub, who was recounting the tale, then went back to staring at the fire.
Timberwolves were carnivorous, but we got our main energy from photosynthesis. Meat just helped us survive during winters. Packs would roam the forests, inhabit the mountains, run throughout the plains. It was good. But one day, everything came to an abrupt end....
5000 years ago, Everfree Forest.
"This forest looks good enough, wouldn't you agree, Tracks?"
"Yeah, it looks good enough, Trails."
Two brothers, Tracks and Trails, came across the Everfree. Back then, it wasn't so gloomy. It was actually one of the healthiest forests at the time. They were not like the rest of the sentient creatures of their times. The two brothers took care of their surroundings, making sure not to disturb flora or fauna. They established a home inside a naturally hollow tree, making sure not to damage it in someway, yet still making the inside comfortable. They weren't the problem... It was what followed them..
4950 years ago, Tracks&Trails' Home
Trails was flying as fast as his feathery wings could carry him. He slammed the door open, startling his brother, who was feeding a baby cockatrice seeds and berries.
"Tracks! We are in most dire troubles! We must leave this forest as soon as possible!" Trails all but shouted, scaring the baby cockatrice who curled up in fear.
"Keep it down would you, this one has been hard to feed, and just when she is starting to consume her meal, you scare her half to death!" Tracks whispered, causing Trails to wince, sheepishly rub the back of his head, and approach his sibling.
"I apologize, dear brother of mine, but these are news of the utmost importance. The alicorns are closing in on our location!" Tracks dropped the seeds, which the baby cockatrice began to peck off of the ground. "We can't let them destroy this forest, or it's inhabitants!"
"The... The Alicorns? Here? These are bad news indeed... We can't leave this forest behind though. There are still animals we need to help! Orphaned creatures who need a safe haven! I refuse to leave them behind."
"Umm... Brother of mine.. There is one more thing you must know.." Trails looked up at Tracks, with slight fear in his eyes.
While Trails was the more nimble of the two, Tracks was definitely the strongest. Able to lift a fully grown dragon over his head, he however was a gentle soul. But everyone has their demons, and Tracks' demons were anger and rage. While hard to anger, once he got mad enough, it was impossible to stop his trail of destruction.
"What news could be worse that those things coming here?" Tracks looked into his brother's eyes, and his own widened.
"No..."
"Tracks please."
"No.. No no no no..."
"Tracks, you know this is bad for you..."
"They can't bring him... Anyone but him... You know what happened the last time he was with us..."
"I know brother, but they thought of him as their "final weapon" against us... I don't want to believe it either, but do you see why we must flee now?"
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, and released it. Tracks opened his eyes again, and saw Trails looking up at him, tears falling from both their eyes.
"I'm doing it, Trails."
"Tracks-"
"No. We are not arguing about this. This was our contingency plan, and you are going to follow through with it. We all discussed this together."
"That was years ago! There is no way the plan can still work!"
"We both know we have no other choice. Take care of the forest Trails. Gods know how much time we spent here.. It's our home now." Tracks grasped the door frame, and turned around to look at his brother one more time. Trails was crying. Tracks was also crying. Two brothers, knowing what was about to occur, and accepting it wholeheartedly, even if it meant they'd never see each other again..
"TRACKS!" Trails lunged at his brother, grabbing onto him and hugging him tightly. He was shaking, yet when he looked at Tracks' face, Trails smiled the widest smile he could muster.
"Take care of yourself, Tracks. It's a jungle out there."
Tracks reciprocated the hug, and they separated after a while. The baby cockatrice pecked at Tracks hooves, so he picked her up and placed her on his brother's head. Looking at her, he said:
"I'll miss you too, Hazel. But I need to go."
And with that , he was gone, his hooves carrying him towards the edge of the forest.
'I'm going to free you from their hooves, you can count on it. They won't use you as their weapon ever again. i promise you that, brother. It's what I owe you, Irdener Wald.'
Chapter Eight: The Tale of Three Brothers. (Part Two.)
A low rumbling could be heard. Snorting. Critters would clear the way for this charging beast.
Must get there.
Nothing would stop it. Faster. Not shrubs, not rocks, not even trees were left standing in its wake.
Almost there.
Reaching the edge of the forest, the creature leaped into the open, a sledgehammer held firmly in its grasp.
Three onlookers were watching as it took to the air, and held its weapon high over its head.
One of them was a pale white alicorn, with a sun for a cutie mark. She was wearing some protective armor, her wings flared, fire pouring out of her form.
Another alicorn stood next to her, this one a midnight blue. She was a lot less covered, and wielded a scythe, from which emanated a chilling aura. Celestia and Luna, the rulers of the newly-founded Equestria. They overthrew Discord, and turned him into a lawn ornament. The draconequus didn't even cause that much chaos. The "princesses" just needed a kingdom to rule, and found that the one in chaos would be easiest to take down. Discord didn't even put up a fight..
The last of the viewers was who Tracks and Trails called brother. His once lush green coat withered away, and the bark under showed signs of wear. Missing an eye, it was replaced by a crude emerald shoved roughly into the socket, as shown by the crack around it. He was on a leash, and had a muzzle over his snout, both of which were golden and had runes all over. He looked at Tracks and the sledgehammer with sadness in his single eye, before a tug on the magical leash brought him to the ground.
"Enough, Mutt. We brought you along to end this cur's life. So go and do what you do best, abomination. Kill." Luna said, looking at the giant timberwolf with hate in her eyes. A click had the muzzle fall to the ground, and the rope that kept the collar as a leash was also removed. Irdener Wald immediately leapt into action, jumping high into the air, right above Tracks, and landing at the edge of the forest.
The sisters were so focused on their weapon they forgot about their opponent, which wasted no time in smashing Celestia's skull with his hammer, making her collapse on the spot, dazed. Turning to face the other alicorn, Tracks was sent flying by several rounds of magical blasts, hitting a rock full force and leaving an imprint a couple inches into the stone. Spitting blood, along with a tooth, Tracks regained his footing, using his weapon to support himself.
"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE US ALONE? WE DID NOTHING TO YOU PONIES, AND YET YOU MUST CHASE US TO THE END OF THE WORLD TO ERADICATE US. WHAT DID WE DO TO YOU, ALICORNS?" He screamed, before feeling something wrap around him, force his body to the ground, then drag him towards the alicorns. Celestia had recovered from the blow, and was now looking at her opponent with a smirk on her face.
"Not many dare, much less manage to land a hit on me, especially if they were as large as you, minotaur." She spat, as if just saying the word made her gag. This made Tracks frown, before spitting a wad of blood and mucus directly into her eye. As any sensible pony would do, she dropped everything she was doing in a shriek of pain, and rolled around on the ground trying to remove the impurities from her eye. The burly minotaur took the opportunity to kick her while she was down, and was immediately tackled by two and a half tons of wood and earth.
The giant timberwolf was struggling, attempting to get away from whom he considered a brother. "It's the damn collar! I can't get it off and I cannot resist it!" He whimpered, although it was more of a growl than a whimper. He faltered for an instant, allowing Tracks to shove him off and unhook a number of small silver balls from his belt. He lobbed them towards Wald, and as soon as they made contact, the balls exploded violently, chunks of wood and stone landing all around them.
A howl of pain, before the lupine's body shrunk visibly, the head regenerating. "So, you've said goodbye to Trails, I presume?" Wald muttered, his grin revealing jagged stones for teeth. "I guess this is also our goodbyes.." He said, looking down, sap falling down from his one functioning eye.
"ON WITH THE FIGHT, MUTT! KILL THAT BUFFOON, ELSE WE'LL TORCH ANOTHER OF YOUR FORESTS!" Luna bellowed, firing a blast of fire from her horn in front of Wald, which made him look down.
The collar.
The explosion had blown his head and part of his neck into smithereens, and the collar slid right off, having nothing to hang on from.
"Oh, I'll fight, pushy prancing pony princesses.." He said, before swiping at the ground, causing a large chunk of the earth to be thrown into the alicorn's direction. They were not expecting this, and were buried under a mound of dirt. Poking her head out, Celestia was greeted by another hammer blow, knocking her out of the mound and into the skies, before being swatted back towards the ground by a massive wooden paw. Hefting his hammer once more, Tracks made an upwards swing, hitting the alicorn of the sun right in the ribs, denting her armor and sending her flying once more.
This game didn't last long, as Luna shot out from the dirt, impaling Tracks onto her horn, piercing his stomach. The eldest celestial sister landed onto the ground a second later, battered and bruised, her armor dented and in some places missing entirely.
"Sister!" Luna cried out, removing Tracks from her horn and distracting Wald with a massive fireball, sending him to the ground in a mad panic to get the fire extinguished. Luna began to cast a healing spell over her beaten sister, the latter's bruises slowly fading away, her bones mending back together. "I believe it is time we end this, Luna." Celestia muttered, before her mane ignited and she rose up high into the air. Luna also flew alongside her sister, and raised her scythe towards the sky.
"Through endless nights and harshest days, Harmony will Prevail. You have caused untold harm towards our subjects, alongside attacking the rulers of Equestria, and thus are sentenced to execution by Celestial Bodies." The sisters spoke as one, and the moon rose into the sky, before beginning to orbit around the sun. The Sun did the same, and soon both were nothing but a white circle.
"By the powers of The Sun and Moon, BE GONE!" They shouted, and a massive ray fired towards the pair of brothers, obliterating everything in its path. The very ground both caught fire and froze at the same time, and every single being for miles could witness and feel the intense show of power the two Princesses displayed.
'There was nothing left. The entire land was destroyed beyond repair, and a massive chunk of the Everfree was gone along with it. The rest of the forest was forever changed, and is what you see today around you.' Fight Shrub finished, before looking at the human with both anger and determination.
'The timberwolves were hunted down after this event, and we only adapted by becoming like our environment... Rotten and decaying. We might not recall what Irdener Wald did, but we know he wasn't evil. The Princesses must pay for almost killing off our species and dooming those who survived to a half-life..'
Weeping Willow, Tough Bark, Fight Shrub and Mann were all looking at Ali, waiting for his decision.
"What are you waiting for? Gather the rest of your pack, bring them over, and we'll discuss our next move!" He said with a grin.
War.
War is coming to Equestria. From inside the Everfree, a danger is rising.
The timber trio ran the cave, determined to gather every single member they could, leaving Ali, Mann, a flesh golem, and half a dozen undead rabbits looking at each other. Mann was the first to take action, standing up and stretching, his damaged limbs only going halfway. Ali did the same, satisfying pops echoing out as he cracked his knuckles. The golem stood there motionlessly, and the bunnies kept staring.
"Well, while the Timberwolves are busy, we have to gather up some materials. Plants, some dirt and rocks, water, meat, corpses, and a bunch of other materials.." Ali said, raising his hands up towards the ceiling, yawning. "I'm going to send Pinky and the other five to dig up roots and pick some herbs and flowers. You, me and the big boy over here will go take care of the heavier stuff... Can you still hunt?"
Mann looked over himself and shrugged. "I'm not sure. It's been a bit since you've started to heal me, so I think I should be able to, but I probably can't chase or pounce long distances." His injured wing twitched, along with his tail, whose stinger was slowly regrowing. The bruises were gone, and two teeth had regrown, but that didn't mean much when the total amount was a dozen instead of the usual thirty or so. A glance at his midsection showed many stitches, some of which had sealed up, but not too much, meaning they would reopen under too much strain. His previous fight with the zebra had almost done that. Mane regrowing, so he looked a bit more fierce, and while he had trouble with his left eye for a while, it was now fully healed up.
A few minutes later, the bunnies were each equipped with a sack twice as big as they were, and were ordered to gather the various plants of the Everfree. Once they had left, Ali grabbed a small pouch for himself, and many larger cotton sacks containing a bunch of light blue crystals. If touched, said crystals would feel cold to the touch and could keep most products fresh for weeks before crumbling away. Attaching most of the bags to the flesh golem's candles and horns, he gave Mann one and held onto the final bag. "Alright, lets head out." He said, before walking off.
Meanwhile, In Ponyville
"...which is why I would like to request Monsters of the Everfree: A First-Hand Approach, A Guide To Dealing With The Weird, Wicked and Wondrous. and Bipeds of Equestria. Thank you in advance, your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
One woosh of magical green fire later, the letter was sent toward Canterlot, and Twilight turned to her friends.
"Alright, the letter is sent. Hopefully, The Princess will respond to us in time." Twilight said, before starting to look through the piles of already opened books on the floor. "It wasn't a minotaur since it didn't have horns. Too tall for a diamond dog, and a lot less hairy. But it does eat meat, which may put ponies on the menu for it, as far as we know." Fluttershy whimpered at the thought, and Rainbow Dash wrapped a wing around her friend. "Don't worry Flutters, we'll find that beast and get rid of it, so none of your friends will have to suffer again!" Fluttershy gave a meek smile, nodding. "And once we are done fighting the baddie, we can have a 'Fluttershy's animals are safe!' Party!" yelled Pinkie Pie, suddenly appearing between the two.
"GAAH!/EEP!/PINKIE!" Three voices echoed through the library, belonging to Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight, respectfully. "When did you get here? How did you get- you know what? One problem at a time. I'll figure out the Pinkie Sense someday.." Twilight mumbled.
"I came because I wanted to cheer my best friend Fluttershy up! Also, there's a weird glow in the forest near Fluttershy's home.." Pinkie said, bouncing up and down.
"Weird how, exactly?" Twilight asked, curious.
"It's like candles, but that's weird because candles don't float by themselves unless you cast a spell on them of course. It also smelled really bad, like.. something dead, but I don't think dead things move. I think I saw a smiley face, and it made a weird noise, and something was fighting a bear, and there was blood, an-"
"B-B-Blood? MY ANIMALS!" Fluttershy screamed, and in the blink of an eye, the door was slammed open, a trail of dust heading towards her cottage.
"Flutters, wait up!" A rainbow trailed followed her, and so did a pink one. Twilight was left staring at the open door, before scrunching her face and teleporting to her friend's home.
Fluttershy's Cottage, Edge of the Everfree
There was no noise. The field behind the cottage was empty, with only a large flesh golem collecting the still-twitching bodies of a flock of birds that fell down from the sky after a well-aimed bolt of lightning, courtesy of one yellow crystal. Said gem was now a dull yellow, laying on the ground. Ali bent over and picked it up, placing it in one of his pockets. Mann was busy consuming as much meat as he could, having gone through a boar and a couple of weasels. The bag he was carrying held their bones. He was to carry them back since they were the lightest items he could procure. The golem, with more than enough muscles to carry twice his weight, was carrying all the injured and/or dead bodies he found, stuffing the dead ones in the sacs hanging off of him, while the injured ones were piled together in a corner. Ali moved towards the garden, picking up as many crops as he could, alongside a bucket filled with fish.
"Well, I think this should be enough. Hopefully, the pony living here won't mind that their domesticated wildlife is.. currently unavailable. Mann, finish that carcass meet me back in the cave. The golem is going to follow you with the rest of the bags. I just have to pass by the field we saw when we were inside the forest." Ali called out, before giving the bucket and his bag to the golem. After making sure his companions had made it to the forest, before walking towards Sweet Apple Acres, whistling all the while.
